Xtensifi LLChttps://xtensifi.com
Making Fintech Innovation HappenThu, 15 Mar 2018 13:19:23 +0000en-UShourly1https://i0.wp.com/xtensifi.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/08/cropped-FullColor_512x512-1.png?fit=32%2C32&ssl=1Xtensifi LLChttps://xtensifi.com
3232126504809XtensifiLlchttps://feedburner.google.comSlowly But Surely, Banks Are Moving to Amazon Web Serviceshttps://xtensifi.com/2018/03/15/slowly-surely-banks-moving-amazon-web-services/
Thu, 15 Mar 2018 09:30:10 +0000https://xtensifi.com/?p=4976As cloud hosting matures and becomes mainstream, many banks are putting aside their early concerns about regulation and security as they realize that cloud hosting can save them significant costs. Banks have discovered how quick and inexpensive it is to set up the necessary architecture for cloud hosting; when it used to take a month to obtain an IP address,...

]]>As cloud hosting matures and becomes mainstream, many banks are putting aside their early concerns about regulation and security as they realize that cloud hosting can save them significant costs.

Banks have discovered how quick and inexpensive it is to set up the necessary architecture for cloud hosting; when it used to take a month to obtain an IP address, now an entire architecture can be set up in a day. Moreover, development operations (DevOps) — the collaborative efforts of developers and other IT staff to deliver software and make infrastructure changes — is much faster and cheaper with a cloud service like Amazon Web Services (AWS).

Pricing with AWS for financial services is similar to Uber’s surge pricing, as processing is cheaper during periods of lighter bandwidth use. To save costs, processing-intensive activities can be scheduled to run at certain times in a region where less capacity/bandwidth is being used. Additionally, AWS offers some degree of free consulting to its customers and will even review larger clients’ architecture to identify the adjustments needed to ensure robust security. All of this adds up to a significant reduction in operations costs, capital investments and staffing requirements.

Challenges of the Cloud

Banks are still cautious about cloud hosting, as the service does not come without some drawbacks and obstacles. Banks might feel nervous about outsourcing their data storage since they are used to controlling their own environment and often believe other environments to be less secure than theirs.

Additionally, some vendors have not yet tested their products in an AWS environment or certified their products to run in that environment. However, AWS has matured enough to lock down everything needed to ensure a secure environment. Institutions simply need to have the correct security framework and the confidence that hosting a system virtually is as secure as using traditional, physical means. Finally, some may be concerned about eliminating jobs and running into compliance issues. With respect to the former, the reality is it does free up resources which can be deployed to tackle other issues. To combat the latter, financial institutions can obtain support from firms like Xtensifi to guide them through Service Organization Control audits of their AWS-enabled services.

Cloud hosting services have already been adopted by some industry leaders. Capital One has been an early adopter of AWS, followed by the World Bank. Soon after those institutions announced their foray into the cloud, Goldman Sachs and Bank of America began using public-cloud services to test software in 2016. Other top banks have followed their lead, to varying extents. Competing cloud services like Google Cloud are also likely to gain traction in the coming years.

But as with many changes in the financial services industry — particularly when it comes to technology — banks’ adoption of cloud hosting will come slowly. Many banks have long-term contracts with vendors and will have to wait for those to renew or expire before moving products or services to a cloud environment. Over the past 20+ years, banks have moved from mainframes to distributed services; now they are shifting back to centralized, thin-client systems. These cycles typically take about 15 to 20 years. Cloud hosting will come, but — as with the adoption of real-time payments discussed in my previous blog — the change will be evolutionary rather than revolutionary.

]]>4976The Real-Time Payments Initiative: What You Need to Knowhttps://xtensifi.com/2018/03/01/real-time-payments-initiative-need-know/
Thu, 01 Mar 2018 14:16:21 +0000https://xtensifi.com/?p=4965 The Clearing House’s (TCH) Real-Time Payments (RTP®) initiative is set to dramatically alter the execution of payments in the U.S. This change won’t happen overnight; however, as many firms have invested heavily in their legacy platforms, and replacing them will take no small effort. The transformation will no doubt be an evolutionary, rather than revolutionary, process. RTP’s success will...

The Clearing House’s (TCH) Real-Time Payments (RTP®) initiative is set to dramatically alter the execution of payments in the U.S. This change won’t happen overnight; however, as many firms have invested heavily in their legacy platforms, and replacing them will take no small effort. The transformation will no doubt be an evolutionary, rather than revolutionary, process.

RTP’s success will depend initially on the size of the network. Six of The Clearing House’s owner-banks are now processing RTP; if the majority of TCH’s 25 banks goes into production soon, RTP will have reached a sizable portion of deposit accounts in the US. TCH is working with not only financial institutions, but also service-providers like FIS to support and enable RTP capabilities.

Given the Federal Reserve’s typically hands-off approach to payment system innovation, as well as traditional financial institutions’ tendency to follow government- or association-issued guidance, fintechs are most likely to take first advantage of the opportunities afforded by real-time payments. P2P providers in particular will want to save transaction costs by leveraging this new network rather than using debit and credit card rails. Aggressive fintechs may also take advantage of the new network; a Venmo or Square, for instance, could reduce their costs considerably by using the RTP infrastructure.

The Clearing House Challenges

The initial investment in the supporting infrastructure needed to use the network, though, could prove daunting. Solution providers and/or financial institutions themselves will have to build functionality and capabilities such as re-trying transactions, audit-logging, reporting, warehousing future-dated transactions and much more.

Having been a chief financial officer (CFO) myself, I know firsthand that the ability to have the remittance advice returned—which RTP enables—should prove invaluable. How this messaging capability will be integrated into enterprise resource planning (ERP) systems, though, is still unclear. THC’s RTP system uses the international ISO 20022 standard format for its messaging, but building this capability into ERP systems will take time and money. Automated Clearing House (ACH) has had an XML format available for some time, but it has not been widely adopted.

Many in the industry also have concerns about the 24×7 payment operations that RTP requires—for both commercial users and financial institutions. Others worry that RTP will encroach on banks’ revenues from other payment types, especially wire transfers. For now, the initial $25,000 cap on RTP transaction amounts should prevent wire cannibalization, but over time this limit will be raised. Once RTP becomes internationally available, these revenues could take an even bigger hit.

The return on RTP investment, though, could be considerable. RTP’s messaging capability in particular presents financial institutions with opportunities to monetize RTP by offering value-added services to customers. Commercial customers can execute B2B and B2C payments with remittance information instantly, at any time, while cashflow-sensitive small business customers may leap at the chance to make low-cost, same-day payments with RTP.

With RTP, banks can offer payments at various price structures based on a customer’s requirements for the payment. If the customer wants payment finality and messaging data/remittance information with the payment, they may choose RTP. If they want a lower-cost option that’s still fast, they may choose same-day ACH. Other mechanisms have their advantages, too.

If they build and execute on the right use cases for RTP, financial institutions will reap the revenues. But first they have to replace their payments platforms, and that is no small feat— especially in what is traditionally a slow-moving industry.

Mobile Strategy Partners (MSP), a digital consulting and development firm that enables financial institutions and fintech providers to create and execute their mobile and online strategies, announces it has changed its name to Xtensifi as part of its rebranding effort.

Under the new name, the company continues to specialize in enabling mid-to large-sized financial institutions and fintech startups to offer comprehensive digital banking experiences. Xtensifi offerings include:

Strategic consulting – Guiding clients to meaningful, actionable solutions to real problems through proven methodologies to analyzing user needs, business environments, partnership opportunities and identifying ways for clients to stand out as an innovative leaders in a dynamic and competitive landscape.

Implementation and support services – Taking solutions to market and providing messaging, compliance and support capabilities to ensure success with new initiatives. Special emphasis is placed on deploying the technology, training staff and replacing existing technology quickly but without disrupting the business.

“Under our new brand, Xtensifi continues to work with financial institutions and fintech startups that need strategic planning as well as the ability to execute,” said George Kelley, CEO of Xtensifi. “By combining strategic planning with the actual development and implementation of innovative, new technology we magnify the positive impact of the solutions on our customers.”

About Xtensifi

Xtensifi, formerly known as Mobile Strategy Partners (MSP), is a specialized digital consulting and development firm that works with banks, credit unions, insurers, fintech providers and other financial organizations of all sizes. Since 2009, the company has provided extensive strategy and execution work that has resulted in dramatically improved digital experiences and award winning solutions being created and offered by our clients. The team’s expertise includes the creation of advanced digital platforms, simplified integration frameworks, digital reference architectures, moving complex technology environments to Amazon Web Services (AWS Cloud), implementing real-time payment systems, ensuring banking compliance and migrating from legacy platforms. To learn more about Xtensifi, visit www.xtensifi.com.

]]>4955Voice is the new UIhttps://xtensifi.com/2017/08/28/voice-is-the-new-ui/
Mon, 28 Aug 2017 11:48:26 +0000http://themes.zozothemes.com/aven/?p=1544According to Gartner Group, 75% of households will have a voice command system in place by 2020. https://www.voicebot.ai/2017/04/14/gartner-predicts-75-us-households-will-smart-speakers-2020/ Additionally, IMS Research predicts 55% of all new vehicles will include Voice Recognition by 2019. That’s only 32 months and 17 months away, respectively. With over 18 million Echos and 11 million Google Homes in circulation already, there’s clearly demand for this...

Additionally, IMS Research predicts 55% of all new vehicles will include Voice Recognition by 2019. That’s only 32 months and 17 months away, respectively. With over 18 million Echos and 11 million Google Homes in circulation already, there’s clearly demand for this capability.

A little more than 15 months ago Capital One became the first financial institution to offer an Alexa skill, with a handful of others following such as American Express, Virginia Credit Union, TD Ameritrade and USAA.

While financial institution adoption seems to be at a crawl, a number of solution providers have already incorporated banking related Alexa Skills into their offering such as NCR, Fiserv, Alkami and IBM.

Accuracy is certainly a key component to adoption. Natural Language Processing (NLP) has been around for decades with mixed results. You had to clearly define scripts for various scenarios. If something fell outside of those you were stuck. Voice is simply an input medium, but by incorporating Artificial Intelligence you can improve the accuracy and experience tremendously. With advances in AI from firms like Clinc and IBM’s Watson, it will continue to be perfected. Now you’re talking about doing away with the mouse and keyboard. A user is truly untethered.

So the question is, what are you doing about voice enabling your applications?

]]>1544Welcome to Xtensifi!https://xtensifi.com/2017/05/10/welcome-to-xtensifi/
Wed, 10 May 2017 15:30:07 +0000http://tombauertest.info/xtensifi/?p=4762Who is Xtensifi? Xtensifi is the new name for the consulting business that was formerly known as Mobile Strategy Partners. Founded in 2009, Mobile Strategy Partners (MSP) provided extensive strategic consulting and technical execution services to a wide variety of banks, credit unions, financial services providers and other organizations, powering their success with sound mobile strategies as well as fintech innovations. In 2015...

]]>Who is Xtensifi? Xtensifi is the new name for the consulting business that was formerly known as Mobile Strategy Partners. Founded in 2009, Mobile Strategy Partners (MSP) provided extensive strategic consulting and technical execution services to a wide variety of banks, credit unions, financial services providers and other organizations, powering their success with sound mobile strategies as well as fintech innovations.

In 2015 MSP founded Gro Solutions, Inc., a digital sales platform, which was spun off as a separate entity after raising a Series A round in February of this year.

In April of 2017 MSP transformed itself into a holding company by creating Xtensifi LLC to continue carrying out Mobile Strategy Partners’ mission of helping organizations compete by getting their strategy “from PowerPoint to Production.” The new brand is also meant to convey the concept of extending our customers’ capabilities with an emphasis on financial institutions (hence the “fi”), but going beyond a mobile focus to include digital channels and fintech in general. Some of Xtensifi’s specialties include digital banking, digital insurance, payment systems, cloud computing, voice applications, banking compliance, application development and systems integration.